The sixth instalment of the Silent Hill franchise, Silent Hill: Homecoming or simply “Homecoming”, is a survival horror title that promises much for the PS3. After the horrendous reviews for “Silent Hill 4: The Room” (PS2) and the subsequent semi-comeback in Silent Hill Origins (PSP), Homecoming is met with a mixed bag of anticipation and dread by fans far and wide, including myself.

Still, hopes were flying high as I picked this up from the shelves. But will I leave this game with my optimism intact or will it come crashing down with a sickening thud like one of them Silent Hill monsters? You’ll find out soon enough.

Unexpected… and Untested

If you don’t already know, the Silent Hill franchise has been around for a long time and revolves around this town that is forever enshrouded by fog. To normal people, Silent Hill seems just like any other abandoned ghost town; but to “selected” people fulfilling certain criteria, the town can literally transform itself into Hell, forcing them to confront their darkest secrets. Because of this concept, Silent Hill has always been known as a more psychological survival horror title as opposed to its action-oriented counterpart in Resident Evil.

Truth to be told, Homecoming was published much, much faster that I expected it to be. I first heard about its development by Double Helix earlier in 2008, and somehow they managed to deliver it within the same year! However, only an hour into the game and it becomes painful apparent that the game cries out for another 3 to 4 months of polishing and testing before it hits the market. And I must say, much of my gaming experience of Homecoming has greatly suffered because of this.

Must… Go… On…

Now that you are prepared for the worst, let’s get straight into the plot. In Homecoming, you play the role of a home-bound soldier named Alex who is seemingly suffering from post-war depression. We don’t really know anything about him, except for the fact that he is having a recurring nightmare about his younger brother being trapped in a hospital filled with monstrous creatures. The next thing he knows, Alex is led on a wild goose chase all over town in search of his missing brother… and eventually to the hellish town of Silent Hill.

Strictly speaking, whilst the plot of a soldier searching for his missing brother may sound like an ideal platform for a Silent Hill story, I personally found the execution a bit of a let down. Due perhaps to the story direction and pace, I didn’t really think the protagonist had the proper motivation for his actions throughout the game. Just as an example: what the heck was he doing seeking his brother in a cemetery? Half the time I was just going through the motion because the game’s linear path forces me to.

In addition, the people Alex meets in Homecoming are all kinda one-dimensional and there just for the heck of it. You have the ex-girlfriend, the desperate cop, the silent mother and others… all of whom have decided to stay in town despite it crumbling around them like a sand pyramid. I don’t know about you but if some alien-spider look-alike starts tapping on my window, I’d be out of town in a flash. Wouldn’t you?

But despite Homecoming sounding like a plot from the abyss of hell; the story, the pace and the general motivation to play this game do get exponentially better in the latter part, especially when you get to Silent Hill itself. Too bad by then you’re already close to finishing the game, where some of the lamest endings in the history of the Silent Hill universe await you.

I’m Stuck (at the Game Screen)

As a survival horror game, the controls of Homecoming are classic Silent Hill with some new innovations. Like the past episodes, you control your protagonist from a behind-the-back perspective; though this time, you have a weak attack and a strong attack for some different combos – a new concept in a Silent Hill game. In addition, there is also a defence button which essentially lets you roll away and dodge enemies’ attacks. It’s all good and well until the issue of testing I brought out earlier.

In a nutshell, the battle system of Homecoming is somewhat broken. For a start, dodging is a big part of this game, yet is extremely hard to execute. Sometimes I found myself doing what I thought was a perfect dodge, only to get hit in the face while I was rolling away.

In addition, the variety of weapons you get throughout the game don’t really work because they are too slow. I suspect most gamers would find yourselves completing the game with only the knife – the single melee weapon which allows you to fight without getting hit in the middle of an attack. This is quite depressing, especially when you know you have an awesome-looking axe in your inventory. Maybe the developers should test the weapon speed before sending the game for packing.

Oh and by the way, it’s rarely a good thing when you are stuck at the control customization screen of a game, and sadly that was the case in my experience of Homecoming. When I started the game, I found myself dodging non-stop in front of a door when I was really trying to open it (later I found out it was because the defence button also acts as the accept button). Whilst trying to change the button setting at the control customisation screen, both the accept and decline buttons somehow overlapped, which made exiting the customization screen impossible. In the end, I had to quit the game and restart. This should have been tested and rectified. Period.

Like Frozen Ectoplasm

Graphically, the game adopts the feel of Silent Hill the Movie. Instead of the clotted-blood look from the previous games, Homecoming now spots a more stylish rusted-metal look just like the movie. Depending on your taste, you might love or hate this. I personally love the old look but the new style still works for me. No problem there.

However, I do believe Homecoming suffers from lack of touch-up. Frankly, the characters modelling seems like they were rushed by designers working late-night without coffee. Alex has like a total of one expression, whilst the female characters look so alike I could hardly tell them apart. Don’t even get me started on the hair… they’re like some frozen ectoplasm glued onto the characters’ heads. Looking from afar and you might be tempted to think they’re wearing helmets. This is something that might have been improved if they only worked on it for another 3 months or so.

Fortunately, Homecoming sounds just like the past Silent Hill games – suitably gloomy yet intense. Whether it’s the music, sound effects or voice acting, they’re nicely done and all add to the depressing feel of someone trapped in Silent Hill. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I loved the theme music, but in this case it feels absolutely in place. My hats off to whoever that composed it. Really.

Replay This?

If you love your first-run of this game, good news for you. Like previous Silent Hills, Homecoming tries to make the game value-for-money by giving it multiple endings as well as secret costumes to unlock. There’s also the hard mode to test your gaming ability to the max. I’d say there’s about 20-hour of gaming in Homecoming if you want to try everything.

As for me, the super lame and morale-shattering ending I got in my first run drained me of all my energy to give it another go. Maybe I’ll try it in another month… I hope.

The Verdict

Looking at this review, you might be tempted to think Homecoming is the worst game in the history of the universe. However, it is not. The harsh words are but a testament to the respect this reviewer has for the Silent Hill franchise. As a fan, I wanted so badly for this title to do well. And I know it in my heart that Homecoming can be more than just an average game that it is now… if only more time and efforts were spent on it.

No doubt about it. If you like survival horror, you’ll look past the bad modelling and quirky pace and control bugs because any Silent Hill game demands that you buy it. If you are a seasoned PS3 owner, you might curse at the somewhat dated graphic but still, I suspect you’ll enjoy the story especially at the last quarter of this game. Judging this as objectively as we can, PS3Hyper gives Silent Hill Homecoming a painfully-playable 3 out of 5. We’re definitely looking forward to much improvement for the next instalment of Silent Hill.

Posted in Reviews on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm |
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